Working with your guild officers.

[Malebrignon]

I had been playing WoW for almost a month the first time I was made an officer in a guild. Within a month of that, I found myself with an absent guild master and was looked to as the leader of the guild from that point forward. A few weeks later, the actual guild master logged in just long enough to pass the actual job to me. From that point forward, I was an officer or guild leader for the remainder of my time in WoW, with the exception of my first month or two in The Grim, where I eventually became the GM there as well. I say all this for the benefit of those who've never known me in-game so that it's known that I've pretty much always been in charge of a guild in one way shape or form over the last several years. I was even an officer in my previous MMO, Asheron's Call.

Officers do a LOT of stuff you'll never hear about as a "normal" guild member. We quietly settle disputes. We arrange events, raids, loot tables, etc. We often are called upon to act as class leads who advise and sometimes even flat-out train new members. We act as eyes and ears for the other officers. In raid guilds, we're often trying to not only do our role, but to make sure the other members we are tasked with helping are also performing their roles properly. We manage the bank. We look for patterns and crafting materials that will benefit the guild. We form relationships, be they good or bad, with other guilds and organizations. We're even called upon to discipline guild members who misbehave or say/do things that in some way reflect poorly on our guild. In the majority of guilds, absolutely no reward is given for this work. In fact, it's often quite the opposite. We're often called upon to pass on loot or even give up our hard-earned raid slot so that other members can go. For most guilds, the officer role is one of generosity and self-sacrifice.

Being a regular member of a guild means you are not actually expected to do any of these things. You get to log in, chat, do your thing, and go have fun with your guildies. Over the years I have seen this taken for granted in so many, many ways that it's given me a desire to share a few ideas on how to be a better guild member.

1. Do it yourself. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a member say "We don't do enough RP/PvP/Raid/etc. events!" It is not the sole responsibility of the officers to make these things happen. Do it your damn self. Better yet, come up with an idea, not just a vague idea but a definite plan for what you want to do and THEN get an officer behind the idea. Saying "I think we need to do a PvP event. Will you help me?" to an officer will likely get you a "Yes." and that's all that will come of it. It's on you to come up with a plan. Coming to an officer with "Hey, I think we should try and arrange a full-guild raid on Halaa next Saturday night. I'd like to split the guild into four squads to cover each bridge. If possible, I'd like to lead one and have officers available to lead the others. Let's try to do it at 10pm so there's a decent chance of an Alliance response." is going to get a lot more help from an officer. That's something they can present to the others and make happen with relative ease. Don't expect them to do all your thinking for you. Most of the time they have more than enough other stuff to do.

2. Don't whine. Goes hand-in-hand with #1. If you're not willing to try and do something yourself, don't go to your guild forum and start a thread about how your guild never has RP events anymore. Chances are that lack of events is from a lack of people willing to help with them. Expecting one or two people to carry you through some kind of RP madness once a week is, well, expecting too much. Officers would also like to play the game too, y'know? If you feel your officers aren't carrying their weight, make an inquiry to your guild master. Nothing pisses off a GM more than finding out that their officers are being slackers. Trust your GM to whip them into shape, that's what he's there for, after all.

3. Work with your guild. Get to know them. Know who you can call on all the time. Every guild I've ever been in always had at least one person who showed up at event time and that's it. Everything else they do in game has nothing to do with their guild. They do instances with another group/guild, farm on their own, never talk in guild chat, etc. This is especially common in raid guilds. If you're only in the guild to raid and don't like the people in your guild enough to work with them, well, you're in the wrong guild, aren't you? I'm just as guilty of this as the next person. I like the challenge of solo play. To adapt to that, I always watch for guildies who are in the same zone as me and make sure to fly by and see if I can help them or at least keep an open ear for them. Want to bond with a guildie you're not overly familiar with? Hover around them for a bit and watch to see if they get in trouble. Dropping down from the sky to save a guildie not only makes them happy with you and possibly want to get to know you better, but it lets you feel like a super hero.

Hmmm... this is becoming rather lengthy. Let's hear some tips from others before I go much farther.

[Korangar]

I have to agree with you here.

I would say an officer should only give what they're willing to give though. Beyond that, the members shouldn't expect more.

One of the things we do to reward our officers in ATFD is giving them special names, its nothing big, but its recognition for their work. The officers also have larger permissions when it comes to the guild vault. This is for two reasons; one, to grant them access to more of the stuff in our vault, and two, to allow them to help give the members and initiates something from the vault that they can't necessarily access.

[Szordrin]

I love you for writing this.

[Yatokth]

1. Do it yourself. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a member say "We don't do enough RP/PvP/Raid/etc. events!" It is not the sole responsibility of the officers to make these things happen. Do it your damn self. Better yet, come up with an idea, not just a vague idea but a definite plan for what you want to do and THEN get an officer behind the idea. Saying "I think we need to do a PvP event. Will you help me?" to an officer will likely get you a "Yes." and that's all that will come of it. It's on you to come up with a plan. Coming to an officer with "Hey, I think we should try and arrange a full-guild raid on Halaa next Saturday night. I'd like to split the guild into four squads to cover each bridge. If possible, I'd like to lead one and have officers available to lead the others. Let's try to do it at 10pm so there's a decent chance of an Alliance response." is going to get a lot more help from an officer. That's something they can present to the others and make happen with relative ease. Don't expect them to do all your thinking for you. Most of the time they have more than enough other stuff to do.

QUOTED FOR TROOOOOOTH

If you have an idea for an event, come up with something relatively specific and pitch it to someone. Not only when you do this do you become better known within the guild as an individual, you also show initiative, and you help bring the guild together. If an officer position is open, someone like this are the FIRST people I consider.

Officers are there to play the game too, so it's nice to be able to have leaders, but I don't want to lead sheep. I want to lead people, who think for themselves and such.

Now, I'm not saying every guild member has to do this, but it's a GREAT way to help keep the guild going.

[EnheilRas]

I don't want to lead sheep. I want to lead people.

What about..

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r311/eerie7/Sheeple.jpg

[Yatokth]

What about..

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r311/eerie7/Sheeple.jpg

That is acceptable.

[Keraph]

I second everything Brig has written. There have been times when things are quiet, say the officers did a couple solid good events in the previous month and are taking a bit of a break to just play, and people will look at us like "So....when's our next event? What do you have in store for us?" Now, far be it from me to not be interested in RP, but thinking up new event ideas just so the guild can have back to back events for the rest of eternity is just not exactly what I want to be doing in the game. All of your points are very strong but #1 is just something a lot of guild members don't see. By all means think up your own event, we'll help you with the execution, and hell you'll probably get some sort of commendation from the guild for taking the initiative! This is what constitutes a good guild member, one who actively helps the guild, not just waits around for RP and PvP and whatnot to happen.

Very solid post, Brig. Good points all around

[Chingaso]

So, what do you do when you have done everyting you can for your guild, including rolling a needed class/spec, giving away mats/crafting/gems/etc, spending insane amounts of gold on resist sets, contributing liberally to the guild bank, only to be told by an officer that you are no longer welcome in the situation you have been playing with said guild?

[Ellsbeth]

... to be told by an officer that you are no longer welcome in the situation you have been playing with said guild?

Do what I did. Find a new role to fill in the guild or work hard at learning the role that you do want to have. Or move on.

The problem with moving on is sometimes there isn't something else to move on to. It's that whole feeling like you had it good so why did you not enjoy it?

There's a lot to be said about people who cause unnecessary drama. That was me and hopefully will not be me in the future. If you are having fun with the guild and they no longer need you for raiding or the like, there's a reason. I very seldom see it as personality clashes because you can always mute people in vent if they're a good player. It's usually based on knowledge and skill and then it's based on whether or not you're willing to learn from your mistakes and get better.

Also add: Blowing up when someone is trying to tell you you're doing it wrong doesn't help.

As for events. Running events as a non-officer can be a pain in the ass. It depends on what the guild focuses on. It also depends on whether or not you have the backing of officers. I had two separate experiences in separate guilds where I decided to run an event and found the officer class angry at me for doing it. Just always remember, talk to them first before you run the event, otherwise it will leave a sour taste in your mouth when the shit flies. I love mixing metaphors.

[Vilmah]

There have been times when things are quiet, say the officers did a couple solid good events in the previous month and are taking a bit of a break to just play, and people will look at us like "So....when's our next event? What do you have in store for us?" Now, far be it from me to not be interested in RP, but thinking up new event ideas just so the guild can have back to back events for the rest of eternity is just not exactly what I want to be doing in the game.

Yes. Very much this.

[Kiaransalius]

A key factor in this all, is the officers ability to relate information to the members of rank and file. While some do not care, I know it is easy for it to seem like one person is doing all the work (for good or bad image) and others do not seem to do anything.

I myself am guilty of these thoughts, but I also do know that it is a thankless job to be an officer much of the time... and difficult to do it and enjoy the game sometimes.

I have been in other guilds, and I know it's a ton of work. It is one of the reasons I tend to not like taking on that kind of responsibility again... my job is enough work.

*good post though!*

[drippygoo]

So, what do you do when you have done everyting you can for your guild, including rolling a needed class/spec, giving away mats/crafting/gems/etc, spending insane amounts of gold on resist sets, contributing liberally to the guild bank, only to be told by an officer that you are no longer welcome in the situation you have been playing with said guild?

Well, if someone as done all these things to try and "be a better guild member" and still gets burned buy it?
Dont do that.

Sounds like the guild was taking advantage of the person. If someone were to do that in a guild I am in I would totaly respect them for all their hard work, and they would have to f'up pretty bad to be asked to leave or removed from the guild.

[Ellsbeth]

A key factor in this all, is the officers ability to relate information to the members of rank and file. While some do not care, I know it is easy for it to seem like one person is doing all the work (for good or bad image) and others do not seem to do anything.

There's that. Especially if there's a feeling like something's missing or lacking in the guild dynamic. Maybe there needs to be more roleplay events. So why is the Roleplay Event Lead not doing anything? Or there needs to be more organised PvP so why are the PvP Leads running pre-mades with other guilds?

It is a thankless job being an officer. You're the first one hated if things go wrong and you spend lots of time playing pattycake. Throw raiding into the mix and then you have to be a leader, cat herder, and loot giver. Loot makes everyone crazy. Absolutely crazy. Running a guild can be frustrating too if you don't like the attention you will receive. Lots of private messages all the time and coming online to find a shitstorm where half the membership has either quit or is going to quit.

[Athin]

A good leader's job is to empower those who follow him. If you want them to take initiative and do things themselves, you have to encourage and reward them when they do. If you don't give them the tools to do this, and show them how its done, they'll be afraid that they are stepping on their GM's & Officers toes, doing things behind thier back, etc.

[Leoren]

I think there's a lot to be said for the original post's points.

Many of us play the game to have fun. Officers do too. Yet still many of them put in hard work for the sake of others, more often than not unrecognized or even worse, without appreciation or gratitude. Sometimes the more the envelope is pushed, the more people expect and take for granted. Those expectations begin to border the unreasonable, and then short of presenting each week some legendary magnum opus about baby Jesus battling terrorists and penguins -- ... Well, I think you get the idea.

I do feel though that the standard to be expected of an officer shouldn't entirely be dispelled either. An officer's position should never be entered into lightly. The role is both an honor and a burden, yet more people leap at the privilege than the actual responsibility that comes with it. It's not meant to be a reward prize for raking up guild loyalty points, its about actually being entrusted to help lead the band to the best of your ability ( within reasonable expectations if my earlier point wasn't crystal ). I've seen many fail to grasp that. I think it's not entirely unreasonable to appraise whether these individuals are making the most of their position. While I definitely believe that the first two points of the original poster should definitely be observed, I'd also maintain that the officers should hold themselves to a gold standard. If you're not contributing within your role, or willing to stick your thumb out and put some work in, you owe it to yourself and your guild to make way for someone who can. Or at least not QQ when someone does it for you.

[Malebrignon]

Absolutely, Leoren. In running smaller guilds of maybe 20-30 players, someone who'd been around a long time would inevitably say "Geez. Haven't I been around long enough to be promoted?" Or, in another ill fated decision I made early in my GMing, I arranged for PvP tournaments to choose...PvP officers. In both cases, promoting those people left me with an officer slot that was filled with someone who wanted the officer title without actually doing anything for the guild. Very frustrating stuff.

I will say the tournament thing did occasionally yield a really good officer, though. I'd hate for one of them that reads this site to feel slighted.

Oh! Here's another nugget: There's almost always an officer who has earned the position on a more out-of-game level by running the website. They'll usually be happy to be called upon for in-game officer duties, but they'll never really seem to "offer up" anything in-game since, well, they're doing a ton of work for the guild outside the game. If you're not sure who that is, ask. That way you know to leave his ass alone unless he's the only officer available.

[Yehvon]

QUOTED FOR TROOOOOOTH
Officers are there to play the game too, so it's nice to be able to have leaders, but I don't want to lead sheep. I want to lead people, who think for themselves and such.


My old guild has this rule. We were all there for the same reason and we worked as a team. We got so close we were all friends until we recruited for t6 content. We gained alot of people who saw us as a ticket for epics since we were #4 on the server (#2 horde) and the morale dwendled when progression lead to wipes. It got worse to where people slacked and didnt bring stuff to raids and expected to just cruise through another raid dungeon clear. Soon ZA's were wipping and ending before the Hex lord, MH raids were 2 bosses a night, and BT was on hold.


Officers became Sheperds and we were the flock. It was sad :(


...then the flock jumped the fence and ran way (aka they transfered to join a sunwell guild who broke up before WotlK and left them to do za and kara and now the're pugging 10man naxx so they got what came to them.)


oh yeah, guild promotions were given like a job promotion. It was all based on attendence, ability and reliability as a player. those who were always prepared, needed no explanations, helped the guild in farming and members, and were always available got the highest honors.

...you can take a wild guess that it got abused once people became friends and whispers went everywhere. Thats how the guild bank filled with MH and BT epics (and sr mats) got transfered with the ex members and how half the guild never knew about this move as it was all done in whispers and only among friends.

[Nadea]

Woah, dont know how I missed this post. Great job summing things up Mal. I especially agree with #1- I cant TELL you how many times Ive gotten whispers, or even someone in OOC going- "So when are we doing something again!? What have you got planned for me!?". It gets tiring. I love being a guild leader, and I love my guild, but sometimes I want to see other folks taking initative in planning an event. Myself, and my officers, are always willing to help aid in said planning. After a while we run out of ideas ourselves.

Ker and I have been officers/leaders almost since Infection formed...3+ years of coming up with events and meetings? It gets hard to think of new ideas after a while!

[Agnarr]

Guild officers != storytellers

[Necroxis]

This is a very well thought out and very informative read. I'm an officer for SWRC (Stormwind Royal Cavlary) and lately some of our members have been bugging me nonstop to the point I have to jump on an alt or I'll kick them all.

Do you mind if we link this post on our website?

[Sabachthan]

I agree with the concepts established in the original post. Having done some officer work myself, I'm rather cognizant of the responsibilities involved and frankly want to stay as far away from officer positions as humanly possible. At the same time, I seem incapable of doing so.

All guild members should understand the concept of taking initiative on their own ideas. (Though that doesn't mean don't check with the officers.) If your guild leadership is constantly shutting down your ideas, you either need to realize that a) your guild's a bad match for you or b) you're not as cool as you think you are.

Another thing I like to drum into guildies is the concept of doing things with other guildies, too. You wouldn't think that such a foreign concept, but it's remarkably atypical. Mal touched on this concept, too.

[Malebrignon]

Do you mind if we link this post on our website?

Feel free. Copy, paste, post it like you wrote it if you wanna. It's just here to help.

[Korangar]

Something we also do in ATFD is have weekly events. Little things that we do every week as a guild. This helps to lower the amount of people asking "when is the next event?" though it still happens. For example, Thursday is party night and Monday is battleground/arena night. They're simple to run and help to bring the guild together. Eventually they start running themselves.

There are often certain roleplays carried out in our guild chat where Pearlle or myself will say, "You know what, its great you guys are doing this here, but why don't you go out and meet each other in person." We definitely encourage our guildmates to work and play together.

[Keraph]

...some people take guild business FAR too seriously X.x Which is probably another issue that could use some discussion.